television – News Stories About television - Page 53

Oct 26, 2008 7:12 PM CDT

How Jim Popped the Question

Long-awaited Office proposal cost big bucks and required huge rain machines

(Newser) - Jim’s proposal to Pam at a gas station rest stop may have looked spur-of-the-moment, but a top creative on The Office says it took weeks of planning and high-tech special effects. To create the 52-second scene, the production team built a replica of a rest stop on Merritt Parkway...

How to Make
Heroes
Super Again

opinion

Oct 24, 2008 8:36 PM CDT

How to Make Heroes Super Again

(Newser) - The "zeitgeist-tapping, blockbuster event" that was Heroes has fallen in both ratings and creative zeal, Jeff Jensen writes in Entertainment Weekly. Here's his five-point plan to fix it:

Hang up some tights: Telepathic policeman Matt Parkman, last seen wandering the African desert, must go. So too Suresh

...

90210 & Co. Get Full Ride as YouTube Ends 10-Minute Rule

Oct 24, 2008 4:16 PM CDT

90210 & Co. Get Full Ride as YouTube Ends 10-Minute Rule

Site starts showing full-length TV episodes, films

(Newser) - YouTube is abandoning its 10-minute video limit to show movies and full-length TV episodes, starting with Star Trek, MacGyver, and Beverly Hills, 90210. The Google-owned juggernaut is responding to competition from Hulu and other sites, reports USA Today. It’s also adding “pre-roll” advertisements that play before a video...

TV Execs Like Palin's Future

Oct 24, 2008 11:55 AM CDT

TV Execs Like Palin's Future

Talk show, news commentator, even reality program among possible post-politics offers

(Newser) - Even if she doesn't end up in Washington, Sarah Palin could still find a presence in the lower 48, the Hollywood Reporter notes. Media higher-ups, salivating at the thought of ratings bumps that Palin appearances gave Saturday Night Live and CBS News, would love to offer her a backup career—...

Feud Cuts LiLo's
Betty Stand Short

Oct 23, 2008 4:00 PM CDT

Feud Cuts LiLo's Betty Stand Short

Mean-girl antics between Lohan, star Ferrara trim 6-episode arc to 4

(Newser) - Lindsay Lohan’s stand on ABC’s Ugly Betty has been reduced from six episodes to four, and a breakdown in relations with star America Ferrera is the cause, the New York Post reports. Insiders said Lohan—signed to play a high-school rival—wouldn’t emerge from her (trashed) dressing...

Curb Cranks Up for New Season

Oct 23, 2008 12:12 PM CDT

Curb Cranks Up for New Season

HBO plans 10 episodes of the Emmy-nominated sitcom in 2009

(Newser) - Curb Your Enthusiasm, the longest-running show in HBO’s lineup, is returning for a seventh season next year, Variety reports. Ten episodes of the half-hour sitcom are set to begin production in December, a source says; the executive producers and air dates are still under wraps. The show, created by...

Tube 2, Boobs 0 in Weekend Sports Viewing Snafus

Oct 20, 2008 2:38 PM CDT

Tube 2, Boobs 0 in Weekend Sports Viewing Snafus

Technical issues keep baseball playoff, NFL game off air long enough to drive fans nuts

(Newser) - Power problems had fans hoping to catch the baseball playoffs and the NFL on TV this weekend howling, the AP reports, with a malfunction at TBS headquarters keeping the first 20 minutes of Tampa Bay’s Game 6 loss to visiting Boston off the airwaves Saturday. Yesterday, balloons snagged a...

Drenched in Watercooler Moments, SNL Is Hot Again

Oct 18, 2008 5:00 PM CDT

Drenched in Watercooler Moments, SNL Is Hot Again

Late-night is the standout hit of the fall season

(Newser) - The fall TV ratings are in, and while Heroes needs saving and House is collapsing, Saturday Night Live has emerged as the biggest hit of the season, Maureen Ryan writes in the Chicago Tribune. Unlike other shows, SNL’s live ratings have jumped nearly 50% in its 34th season. “...

TV Makes Us Dream in Color

Oct 18, 2008 5:50 AM CDT

TV Makes Us Dream in Color

Research suggest childhood TV-watching affects whether dreams are in color or not

(Newser) - The advent of color TV may have injected color into generations of dreams, the Daily Telegraph reports. A study finds that people who grew up watching black-and-white TV often dream in monochrome—as people are believed to have done before the dawn of television—while those who grew up with...

Dave's 10 Best Digs at McCain

OPINION

Oct 17, 2008 12:25 PM CDT

Dave's 10 Best Digs at McCain

Truce between GOP candidate and late-night host can't erase these swipes

(Newser) - David Letterman has landed some pretty harsh zingers aimed since John McCain skipped out on the Late Show in September. Los Angeles Times reporter Matea Gold put together a Top 10 list of her own; a sampling:

"I gave up drinking a while ago, but I started again. And

...

Obama Ad to Delay
World Series Game

Oct 16, 2008 1:33 PM CDT

Obama Ad to Delay World Series Game

If there is a Game 6, MLB agrees to push start back 18 minutes so Fox can air spot

(Newser) - The GOP is crying foul after Fox announced it would delay a possible World Series Game 6 to air a 30-minute Barack Obama spot, CNN reports. Obama has bought airtime from Fox, CBS, and NBC for Oct. 29. “Not only is Obama putting politics before principle, he’s putting...

Chocolate News Could
Fill Chappelle Void

TV REVIEW

Oct 15, 2008 3:42 PM CDT

Chocolate News Could Fill Chappelle Void

Grier counters Comedy Central's 'vanilla' news satires

(Newser) - Comedy Central may have found a Dave Chappelle-worthy replacement in David Alan Grier, Paul Farhi writes in the Washington Post. His Chocolate News is a “wholly inappropriate—and riotiously funny” 60 Minutes-style program in which Grier offers the news in “Lou Dobbsean rant” and mocks such figures as...

Family Guy Has Worn Thin

OPINION

Oct 14, 2008 6:45 PM CDT

Family Guy Has Worn Thin

(Newser) - Family Guy is back and bigger than ever, and creator Seth Macfarlane is rolling in money, influence, and spinoffs. Sounds like just the right time for a major backlash, Natasha Vargas-Cooper writes for Radar. “Just a few years after thousands of American tastemakers demanded Family Guy be resuscitated from...

In Tough Times,
TV Goes Blue-Collar

Oct 12, 2008 1:43 PM CDT

In Tough Times, TV Goes Blue-Collar

(Newser) - As the financial crisis deepens, expect TV to trade upper-crust environs for jokes about crustiness, reports the New York Post. Entertainment execs are pushing the development of blue-collar comedies that allow for a little old-fashioned escapism. "I don't think audiences want to see a show about the fall of...

Obama Buys Half-Hour
of Network Primetime

Oct 9, 2008 6:02 PM CDT

Obama Buys Half-Hour of Network Primetime

30 minutes on October 29th may be accompanied by other TV buys

(Newser) - Barack Obama’s campaign is planning an 11th-hour advertising blitz and has purchased a half-hour of primetime TV on CBS for October 29th, Politico reports. A special will air that night, just days before the election, at 8pm. Rumor has it that Obama also is nearing deals with NBC and...

Ab Fab Gets US Remake

Oct 7, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

Ab Fab Gets US Remake

Saunders, creator of original British hit, will be executive producer on Fox effort

(Newser) - A Fox remake of British sitcom Absolutely Fabulous will swill its way into Los Angeles, reports Variety. Creator Jennifer Saunders, who played one half of the delightfully boozy and dysfunctional 40-something duo, is on board as executive producer; Saturday Night Live writer Christine Zander will pen the initial set of...

Injury Ends
Olympian's
DWTS Run

Oct 7, 2008 12:03 PM CDT

Injury Ends Olympian's DWTS Run

Beach volleyball champ Misty May-Treanor ruptured tendon Friday

(Newser) - Olympic gold medalist Misty May-Treanor confirmed last night that she is leaving ABC’s Dancing With the Stars after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon. “I'm out,” the beach volleyball champ announced during yesterday’s show, OK! reports. She said she “heard a pop doing the lindy hop”...

Hathaway Mocks Conman Ex

Oct 6, 2008 11:05 AM CDT

Hathaway Mocks Conman Ex

Actress' SNL monologue includes dig at Rafaello Follieri

(Newser) - Anne Hathaway made fun of her high-profile split with convicted fraudster Rafaello Follieri on Saturday Night Live, reports MSNBC. “I broke up with my boyfriend … and two weeks later he was sent to prison for fraud … I mean, we've all been there, right, ladies?” the actress said...

McCain to Redouble Attacks

Oct 4, 2008 11:33 AM CDT

McCain to Redouble Attacks

New ad campaign, to debut after debate, will attempt to shift focus from the economy

(Newser) - John McCain’s struggling campaign, hobbled by the economic crisis, will go back on the attack, the Washington Post reports. Insiders said targets would include Obama’s association with convicted developer Tony Rezko. Ads criticizing the Democratic candidate’s record on taxes have already run.

'YouTube of
Variety Shows'
Will Star Rosie

Oct 2, 2008 11:57 AM CDT

'YouTube of Variety Shows' Will Star Rosie

(Newser) - Rosie O'Donnell will launch an attempt to revive both her TV career and the variety genre the night before Thanksgiving, hosting Rosie's Variety Show live on NBC, Variety reports. The 1-hour show will feature celeb guests and musical and comedy acts. It's is believed to be the precursor to a...